Levi VanderDeen of Vernon Sky Black boys volleyball club smashes a ball past a pair of Seaside (White Rock) Club defenders in the final of the Volleyball BC Langley Super Series at Langley Secondary. Sky defeated Seaside in straight sets to win the tournament. (Greg Louis-photo)

Vernon Sky clouds White Rock hopes

Boys volleyball club defeats Lower Mainland rivals in final of Super Series club tournament

“We are proud of how our team played over the weekend. The boys were doing everything we expected of them; passing dimes, digging great balls, serving consistently and attacking with few errors,” said Sky Black coach Karen Bedard.

On the first day, Sky Black came first in its pool by defeating the Megaladons of Abbotsford 25-11, 25-20, Mariners Jeff of Nanaimo 25-13, 25-16 and Air Attack Black of Richmond 25-17, 25-23. This set them up in the quarterfinals, which they won in three 25-19, 22-25, 17-15, against the Orangemen of Abbotsford. It was the only match in the tournament where they dropped a set.

In the semifinals, Vernon defeated Apex Ignite of Vancouver 25-23, 25-19 to get into the finals.

“Last time we had played Apex was in provincials last year, and we had lost to them,” said Vernon coach Richard Bedard. “We made sure to focus on some of their key players and it worked out for us. Having strong passing and attacking from Josh Hall and Levi VanderDeen also made sure we got to the finals.”